by crossriverwatch admin
POINT BY POINT RESPONSE TO NTUFAM JOHN OKON-STATE CHAIRMAN PDP CROSS RIVER STATE ON
“Goddy Jedy Agba is not a PDP member”
Mr Goddy Jedy Agba is not a member of the People’s Democratic Party in Cross River State as his name is not in the register of the party any where in the state.
RESPONSE: Seriously? Una don start new joke abi? His ward is called Utugwang Central Ward in Obudu LGA and his name Godwin Jedy Agba is in the register. Just in case you have concluded what we have heard already, be wise.
Ntufam John Okon, the State Chairman of the PDP revealed this to CrossRiverWatch in Calabar on Friday saying that Mr. Jedy Agba is a civil servant and no civil servant can be a card carrying member of any party.
RESPONSE: There is no law or rules capable of taking away the fundamental right of ANYBODY in Nigeria from belonging to any lawful association including political parties. See section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution and Independent National Electoral Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation v. Musa [2003] 3 NWLR (Part 806) 72 Obiter dictum per Uwais (CJN retired) and Ayoola JSC.
“There are party rules for the number of years anybody who wants to contest election can be registered in the party before running elections and as far as we know, Goddy Agba has not registered with our party”.
RESPONSE: Kindly avail us the number of years required for such aspirants to be registered as a member of the party. Chairman, you are a retired Civil Servant don’t forget and supposedly elected to the office of party chairman in the state. Let us know when you started carrying the card as a member of the party up till when you were elected as chairman. We hope you qualify-even by your own standards! Besides, you single out Goddy Jedy Agba, why? Our brothers Tanko Ashang and Fidelis Ugbo and some others we have heard are also civil or public servants. What is it with Jedy?
He said anybody can claim to be a card carrying member of the PDP by printing his own card but such a person cannot have his name on the register of the party and as such he is not a member of the party.
“Anybody can print the party card anywhere but carrying a card is not enough but you must be registered in the party register; let the person who prints his own card carry the card but he is not a member of our party”.
RESPONSE: What you have said here is an innuendo in reference to Goddy Jedy Agba and on its own, is defamatory! How can you insinuate that Goddy Jedy Agba printed his own card and is claiming that he is a member of “our party”. You should know better than this.
Answering a question on claims by some people that the party will be plunged into what they called democratic crisis, Ntufam John Okon said, to cause crisis requires capacity, wherewithal and backing of the right people. “For anyone to cause so-called democratic crisis, the person should have resources of his own, the capacity, the following to back him but some of these people we know them that they cannot even emerge as delegates from their wards, so how can they cause any crisis in the party”.
RESPONSE: Goddy Jedy Agba that even you know Mr. Chairman, is a peaceful man. He abhors violence and crisis and has maintained that even in the worst of dictatorship, peace can be maintained. As per emerging as a delegate from his ward, whether Goddy Jedy Agba or his supporters, please allow the people -party faithfuls to decide. You don’t hold all the votes. Yours is just one!
The State Chairman said Cross River State is on a journey with a clear blue print for the development of the state which has been reviewed periodically to suit the needs of the state and as such, the state cannot be handed over to someone who is not aware of the blueprint and developmental plans of the state.
RESPONSE: A journey? A blue-print? Developed by who and for who? For Cross Riverians? Then why is it now a bad thing for someone who is a Cross Riverian like Donald and Liyel to also be part of the “blue-print” and perhaps to better it. Liyel said recently, that if you continue doing the same thing for a long time, you will begin to consider even things that are not okay to be okay (paraphrased). That should be the reason for not allowing the tripartite Donald-Liyel-Gersh arrangement to scale the 24 year plan- at least with the zoning of the Governorship to the North. There are many smart people-especially young people from the State. If at your age you have joined the league of those who cannot see anything good from outside the “family”, then the state and the young ones are in deep trouble! Beyond that, wouldn’t you rather enjoy a consolidation of an existing blue print with a fresh agenda for Cross River that promises new things and span beyond the vision of just Donald and Liyel? Think again!
“The blue print was initiated to develop the state and Mr Donald Duke started this and Senator Liyel Imoke has sustained this with rural transformation and we cannot allow just anybody who does not have the grip of what the blue print is to come and take over”.
RESPONSE: Again and again we keep saying this: Goddy Jedy Agba is not just “anybody” whatever that means in your parlance! He is a son of Cross River state with the requisite qualification to steer the affairs of the state and very well too. He has more than a full grip of whatever blue print you are talking about and even more. He is not coming to destroy the state but to make it better for everyone especially the youths!
Ntufam Okon said though nobody has formally come to tell him of his plans to succeed Imoke, there are a lot of “Our brothers who have been following and are capable of continuing with the blue print; we believe in consensus and we have been linking up and at the right time we shall give birth to the person and the delivery table is this one we are sitting on”.
RESPONSE: You believe in consensus and will give birth to the person to take over from Liyel! See how you foster and expose illegality? What kind of consensus? So it means nothing to you for the people –in the party- to be part of the process that will bring in the candidate of the party? What is the big deal about allowing the delegates the freewill (God given o) to elect their candidate from the aspirants on ground? You truly think that the decision of the “we” you are referring to (which we all know) is better than what the delegates would decide in a free and fair contest?
Finally, since nobody has come to tell you of his interest to run for governorship (not just Goddy Jedy Agba), why not wait! You are meant to be an impartial arbiter but see you descending to the arena at this time and taking on Jedy in this manner. He is just one of the many from the North who wants to get into government house after Liyel. What evil has he done to you or to anyone that you know? You have made headlines, thanks! But you can do better sir.
G18 COALITION, CROSS RIVER STATE
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